disposed in ridges with a double talus, one presented to the glacier and the other to the wall of rock flanking the valley. Independently of occurring on the sides of all existing glaciers, moraines may be also traced at a distance from them in the valleys of the Rhone, the Arve, the Aar, &c. They are very distinct, M. Agassiz says, in many valleys in Scotland, as near Inverary, at Muc Airn, at the outlet of Loch Traig, at Stranraer, on the borders of the Bay of Beauley, &c.; in Ireland, to the south-east of Dublin, and near Enniskillen; and in England, in the valley of Kendal, and in the neighbourhood of Penrith and Shap. However great may be the distinction between moraines and the accumulations of pebbles and blocks previously noticed, the author states, that no doubt can exist of their common origin; the former being simple ridges produced on the surface of glaciers, and the latter, materials rounded and polished under glaciers or great bodies of ice; and which, after exposure, by the melting of the ice, have been re-arranged by water. M. Agassiz then explains the marked differences in the form and internal arrangement of the materials comprising these various deposits. In stratified gravel, he says, the ingredients are comparatively much smaller than in the detritus of glaciers, and the finer portions are usually at the top; while in accumulations from ice large and small blocks are confusedly intermixed, the largest being often in the upper part; and where great angular blocks occur, they rest upon the surface. In moraines, however, blocks of all dimensions and every variety of form, are irregularly associated; and this dif ference, he says, is easily explained, by moraines being composed of the angular fragments which fall on the glacier, and of pebbles rounded on the edges, the whole being deposited in ridges, which necessarily present no order of arrangement.— Athenæum.

VOLCANO IN HAWAII, ONE OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. Three concentric and precipitous walls of indurated lava of a circular form, or nearly so, enclose the space of volcanic action; the height of the outward wall is about 150 feet, that of the second nearly the same, but that of the third, which descends into the active crater, is 1000 feet. Connecting the foot of the outward and top of the second wall is a horizontal belt or ledge of the same material, about half a mile wide; its surface is broken and uneven. Between the second and third is a similar ledge, and of equal dimensions, the interior circumference of which incloses the space occupied by the crater, whose diameter is three miles. These precipices are by no means continuous, but in several places they have fallen in, having been undermined by the igneous action beneath, and hence slopes have been formed which admit of a descent to the crater. When the party arrived at the brink of the precipice overlooking the crater, a most imposing spectacle presented itself: numerous small cones, of from twenty to thirty feet high, were throwing out volumes of sulphurous vapour, and pouring forth liquid lava, accompanied by loud detonations; lakes of molten matter, in violent agitation, were throwing up to a considerable height their fiery contents, as the gaseous fluids from below passed through them; but towards the eastern circumference of the crater lay the principal point of interest,-a great lake of liquid lava, of an elliptical form, one mile long by half a mile broad. In order to reach this, the party descended into the crater on the western circumference, and, cautiously feeling their way over this dangerous ground, they visited several of the cones and small lakes as they passed, and at length arrived at the rocks which encircle the fiery gulf. On climbing to the summit of these, which are about 100 feet high, they looked down upon the expanse of liquid lava, which appeared to flow from south to north, the current being straitened in its course by a promontory which projects from the eastern shore about half way across. Violent ebullitions, caused by the passage of elastic fluids from beneath, threw up the spray in many parts thirty or forty feet; whilst, in others, the liquid mass underwent constant changes both of colour and motion; being more or less bright, more or less agitated, according to the degree of energy exerted by the subterranean forces. In some places the current would seem to flow on as unruffled as if it had been becalmed by the high projecting cliffs, leaving ridges of scoria on the northern shore as the sea does weed on the beach. Having observed a gap in the surrounding rocks, in the south-eastern part, the party conceived that it would afford them an opportunity of contemplating the scene by night, if they should take up a position on the brink of the precipice bounding the great crater directly opposite to it. With this object in view, they retraced their steps across the crater, and gained the desired point at nightfall. They had passed about an hour enjoying the magnificent spectacle below, when a fresh outburst of lava from a part of the crater to the southward of the great lake arrested their attention. With violent detonations, and a crashing noise, a flood of molten

con

matter appeared, which, spreading in all directions, covered, in a very short time, a space of more than three hundred thousand square yards; and what had a few minutes before been a black scoriaceous surface, presented a vast sheet of fire, emitting intense light and heat, and glowing with indescribable brilliancy. At length, wearied with the fatigues of the day, the party left this exciting scene, and retired to rest in some Indian huts built on the brink of the precipice. A very remarkable feature of this volcano is the subsidence of the ground surrounding the crater. Let us imagine, in the first place, a plain of uneven surface, from fifteen to sixteen miles in circumference, situated on the gentle slope of an enormous mountain-Mowna Roa, to be undermined in its whole extent, and to sink bodily and perpendicularly one hundred feet, leaving a circular precipice formed by its subsidence, whose brink stands indicative of its former level. Secondly, the area of another circle, of reduced diameter, a part of the surface of the already sunken circular plain, and concentric with it, to undergo a similar change of position, verting the remainder of the first sunken area into a ledge, or circular zone, of the breadth of half a mile. And, lastly, let us figure to ourselves that from the centre of this second sunken surface, the area of a third concentric circle three miles in diameter subsides 1000 feet, forming what is denominated the great crater, and leaving a second and similar zone to the first, also half a mile in width, and bordered by a precipice, from the brink of which you look down upon boiling lakes of liquid lava and numerous cones, vomiting fire with violent detonations; and some feeble idea may be formed of the extent and first appearance of this great volcanic phenomenon. Another singular circumstance attending the change of level of the surface of the crater is its tendency to elevation, and the rapidity with which it is raised. In 1824, the level of this surface was between eight and nine hundred feet lower than at present; and there was at that time another circular ledge which is now obliterated. This is evidently caused by the flow of lava from the cones and other sources within it; and when we consider that seven square miles of surface have been raised 800 feet in sixteen years, equal to an accumulation of rather more than one cubic mile of lava, it conveys an idea of the vast extent of the subterranean agency. If the same rate of accumulation should continue eighteen or twenty years longer, it is evident that the present surface would be elevated to the level of the interior zone, or 1000 feet; but in all probability, before this could happen, the lava would find a vent through rents and fissures in the ground, or the subterranean vault might give way, and another subsidence take place.-Lit. Gaz.

PETROLEUM OIL WELL.-About ten years since, whilst boring for salt water, near Burksville, Kentucky, after penetrating through solid rock upwards of two hundred feet, a fountain of pure oil was struck, which was thrown up more than twelve feet above the surface of the earth. Although in quantity somewhat abated after the discharge of the first few minutes, during which it was supposed to emit seventy-five gallons a minute, it still continued to flow for several days successively. The well being on the margin and near the mouth of a small creek emptying into Cumberland river, the oil soon found its way thither, and for a long time covered its surface. Some gentlemen below applied a torch, when the surface of the river blazed, and the flames soon climbed the most elevated cliffs, and scorched the summit of the loftiest trees. It ignites freely, and produces a flame as brilliant as gas. Its qualities were then unknown, but a quantity was barrelled, most of which soon leaked out. It is so penetrating as to be difficult to confine in a wooden vessel, and has so much gas as frequently to burst bottles when filled and tightly corked. Upon exposure to the air it assumes a greenish hue. It is extremely volatile, has a strong, pungent, and indescribable smell, and tastes much like the heart of pitch pine. For a short time after the discovery, a small quantity of the oil would flow whilst pumping the salt water, which led to the impression that it could always be drawn by pumping. But all subsequent attempts to obtain it, except by a spontaneous flow, have entirely failed. There have been two such flows within the two last years. The last commenced on the 4th of July last, and continued about six weeks, during which time about twenty barrels of oil were obtained. The oil and the salt water, with which it is invariably combined during these flows, are forced up by the gas, above two hundred feet, into the pump, and thence through the spout into a covered trough, where the water soon becomes disengaged and settles at the bottom, whilst the oil is readily skimmed from the surface. A rumbling noise resembling distant thunder uniformly attends the flowing of the oil, whilst the gas, which is then visible every day at the top of the pump, leads the passing stranger to inquire whether the well is on fire.—Silliman's Journal.

INDEX TO VOL. XXIX.

ORIGINAL PAPERS.

Adventures of a Gentleman in Search of an Estate, 158, 306, 436.
Angling in Norway, 330.

Brighter World than This, 366

Boscobel. Song of the Penderells, 174.

Canning in Retirement, 45.

Disappointment, The, 44.
Dost ever think of Me? 427.

Early Woo'd and Won, 13.

Eligible Match, An. A Tale of a Country House, 76.
Evening Vision, The, 96.

History of the Jews, 28, 141, 241, 367.

Hugh Lloyd, the Warrior and Bard of Cambria, 295.

Idle Words, 27.

Invalid, The, 192.

Italy, by an Exile, 14, 260.

Killikelly, Lord, by Abbott Lee, 100, 207, 277, 428.

Mary Scott. A Story of the Sixteenth Century, 51.

Memoirs of an Italian Exile, 175, 411.

Mother's First Trial, The, 329.

Recollections of a Student, 384.
Records of the French Prisoners, 193.

Sayings and Doings in the University of Oxford, 1, 113, 225, 394.
Scenes from the Drama of History, 63.

Songs of Spain, 62, 240, 383.

Song Written in the Gardens at Hampton Court, 95.

Song. From the Welch of Llywarch Hen, 221.

Student's Soliloquy, The, 319.

Tasteless Buildings in a Beautiful Landscape, 329.

Two Eras of Winchilsea, 349.

Turk's Revenge, 350.

Turkish Wife's Lament, The, 206.

IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.